Saturday, June 2, 2012

Our five year management plan for the Australian Society of Authors (ASA) Comics / Graphic Novels Portfolio is coming to an end on 30 June 2012, after which we will be
vacating our positions as Portfolio Holders.

Since founding the
portfolio in July 2007 under then Executive Director Dr Jeremy Fisher’s and the
Committee of Management’s approval, we have accomplished the following:

(1) Surveyed and profiled the Australian comics community to gain an
understanding of the demographics and the needs of this group of literary
creators;

(2) Created the ASA Comics / Graphic Novels Page Rates;

(3) Organised annual Professional Development Seminars at Supanova such as "How to Write a Graphic Novel Book Proposal for the Mainstream Book Market", "Legal Self Defence for Comics Creators: Understanding Comics Contracts", "Understanding Trade Marking 101", "Copyright, Resale Royalties and Cultural Funding", and "Professional Friends with Benefits" across four States (NSW, Vic, Qld and WA);

(4) Created and edited 30+ issues of the marketing and legal issues
oriented Comics Biz ezine, which has been sent out exclusively to
portfolio members since January 2009;

(5) Organised and promoted the successful Comics Masterclass in 2011,
which attracted 100 participants from around Australia and overseas;

(6) Promoted 30+ Australian comics artists and writers through the
"Comics Creator of the Month" series, which has featured in Comics
Biz and
the ASA website;

(7) Consulted on the Model Publishing Agreement, which was published in Australian
Book Contracts (4th ed);

(8) Coordinated the Comics Creators’ Toolkit, which contains various
agreements such as the Comics Collaborators Agreement, the Comics Commissioned Works (Work for Hire) Agreement, Confidentiality Agreement and several more, which will be available from the ASA in the second half of 2012;

(9) Organised the design and printing of the Comics / Graphic Novels
Portfolio membership brochure, which has been distributed at various comics
events around Australia;

(10) Promoted the ASA and the portfolio through
various blogs, social media groups, online comics forums and networks to build
awareness; and

(11) Created relationships and cross-pollinated with other organisations
such as the Australian Cartoonists’ Association (ACA), the Copyright Agency
Limited (CAL), the Arts Law Centre, and IP Australia to provide additional
membership benefits, access to resources, and to enhance professional
development opportunities for our members.

Furthermore, since its inception, the portfolio has
grown to around 100 members. We have kept our members up-to-date with
opportunities and important information through regular newsletter columns, as
well as broadcast emails.

We are leaving to focus on our
creative work, as we will be launching a new comic book series and a new comics
oriented business during the next few months. We have enjoyed working with the ASA and comics creators, and we thank everyone for their friendship and support. The ASA will appoint new
portfolio holders to reinvent the portfolio with their own signature and style.
We will remain ASA members, and look forward to supporting these new initiatives.